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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Melodie Little

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News >  Business

Stores targeting young shoppers to open at mall

Two national chains catering to youthful shoppers are opening stores at Spokane Valley Mall. Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc., a store where kids and adults put together customized stuffed animals, is opening on the main floor next to PacSun on Aug. 10. Hollister Co., an apparel store geared toward youths ages 14 to 17, will open on the main floor across from Victoria's Secret later in August, according to Lesa Berry, marketing manager for the mall.
News >  Business

Cigar room planned with law in mind

The steakhouse going into the Former Joel Inc. building will have an added perk for high-rollers who enjoy a good stogie. Churchill's Steakhouse is incorporating a members-only cigar club that boasts Oriental rugs and leather chairs with hand-carved wooden accents. Members will pay $1,000 a year to access the roughly 25-foot by 40-foot clubroom and have their own private humidors.
News >  Business

Here’s the dirt: High-end steakhouse close to done at former Joel’s site

After several months of construction delays and glitches, a high-end steakhouse that's being built in the former Joel Inc. building could open in August. Churchill's Steakhouse will have a members-only cigar room and sell entrees starting in the $20 range and rising to about $50, said Bill Alles, principal partner in the restaurant.
News >  Business

What’s cooking? A lot less

Jane Heiskell has a garage full of kettles and preserves. Since the closure of a commercial kitchen that was used by 15 to 20 small businesses, the inventory for Aunt Jane's Jams and Jellies no longer sits in an industrial locker but instead straddles a used Lexus.
News >  Business

Here’s the Dirt: U-District Physical Therapy center opens

Spokane has a new indoor soccer center that's part of a larger facility specializing in conditioning and training for athletes. U-District Physical Therapy recently moved into its new 25,000-square-foot facility at 730 N. Hamilton St., south of The Warehouse, a sports complex.
News >  Business

Signs point to scam

Owners of four small businesses are out more than $1,000 each after a sign company allegedly took money for materials and then failed to do the work. "Twelve hundred and fifty dollars in cash may not seem like a lot of money, but some months that's our profit," said Jean Moore, who owns the Village Tavern in Airway Heights with her husband, Tracy Moore.
News >  Spokane

Home sales in lull; appreciation slows

Spokane homebuilder Corey Condron usually has two or three completed houses for sale at a time. Currently, his company has 15 homes on the market. "There's a lot of competition right now with the builders. We're playing tug-of-war with each other," said Condron, owner of Condron Homes LLC.
News >  Voices

Army reservist seeks personal items for Iraqis

Laurissa Commers is among a group of Army reservists deployed to Iraq who are looking for ways to improve the lives of impoverished civilians there. The 36-year-old procurement officer, who lives in Missoula but served one year in Spokane and has family here, is asking readers of The Spokesman-Review to send donations of clothing, toiletries and toys to help Iraqi families who are living in third-world conditions.
News >  Business

Condos approved for South Side bluff – with conditions

A controversial project that could create 100 condos on a South Spokane bluff with erosion problems has been approved – provided the landowner meets a long list of conditions. Spokane Hearing Examiner Greg Smith gave the preliminary go-ahead for Yong Lewis to move forward with a 30-building complex called Tuscan Ridge on 23 acres near 57th Avenue and Hatch Road. Plans for the site include constructing some buildings on stilts and setting them into a steep hillside.
News >  Business

Defunct Books ending chapter

Defunct Books is living up to its name, at least in Spokane. The half-century-old secondhand bookstore at 123 S. Wall St. will close at the end of this month. It will reopen 15,000 books lighter in a new, albeit smaller, storefront in Iowa City, Iowa.
News >  Business

Employers seek health care options

Employers struggling with rising health care costs are exploring alternative insurance plans that meet routine and catastrophic medical needs but may provide less coverage on prescription bills, a recent survey by Mercer Health & Benefits found. If employer intentions pan out, in the future more employees will participate in wellness and disease-management programs. Some will also decide how to spend money that companies deposit into employee health savings or health reimbursement accounts, representatives of the New York-based benefits consulting firm said.
News >  Business

Magnuson Hotels adds lending partner

Spokane-based Magnuson Hotels has entered into a partnership that will make borrowing money easier for independent hotel operators. The company, which provides global reservation services for more than 600 independent hotels nationwide and in Canada, recently joined with Atlanta, Ga.-based Haven Trust Bank to offer financing for hotels that aren't affiliated with big chains.
News >  Business

SNAP energizes businesses too

When the Martinez family members wanted to transform their taco concession into a sit-down restaurant, they got business advice and financing from a nonprofit that's best known for providing energy assistance. Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs, which serves the low-income, has a microenterprise program that provides the education, loans and support necessary for entrepreneurs of low-to-moderate incomes to realize their dreams of owning, enhancing and expanding businesses.
News >  Business

Condo craze

When Wendy Jones purchased a condo in The Ridge, an apartment conversion project in Browne's Addition, she liked the views, location and price. But before she signed on for a mortgage — and committed nearly $100,000 to adding high-end upgrades that made the unit into a custom home — Jones thought about resale value.
News >  Business

Old Safeway building to house Downtown Lexus

A building on Third Avenue and Maple Street in Spokane that housed a Safeway store for 50 years is slated to become a new home for Downtown Lexus. "We like our location. We want to stay downtown with all of our franchises," said Dave Coombs, who owns Downtown Toyota/Lexus with his wife, Melody Coombs.
News >  Business

Here’s the Dirt : Kohl’s plans Spokane Valley store

Kohl's, a value-priced retailer with 834 stores nationwide, plans to build a two-level store with a mezzanine in Spokane Valley. Plans submitted to the city shows the $4.7 million store is slated for the 16000 block of Broadway Avenue, east of Sullivan Road, and near Wal-Mart.
News >  Business

A healthy relationship: Zip’s now serves buns from locally grown wheat

Kids and adults who visit Zip's might notice something different about their double-cheeseburgers. The fast-food restaurant has gotten healthier. Most Zip's now serve their burgers wedged between high-fiber buns made with Shepherd's Grain, a type of wheat grown by a dozen farmers in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.
News >  Spokane

Historic day for Whitworth graduates

More than 600 students marked the end of an era as they officially became the last class to graduate from Whitworth College during a ceremony held Sunday at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Next year, the school's graduates will receive diplomas from Whitworth University, a name that administrators believe better reflects the diversity of programs offered by the institution.
News >  Spokane

Officer, church sexton remembered

Moscow police Officer Lee Newbill and church sexton Paul Bauer were killed by a gunman in Moscow. Here's what their friends and co-workers had to say. Lee Newbill
News >  Spokane

Deployed: a Mother’s Day apart

This is no typical Mother's Day for Terri Fowler. Instead of awakening to a family breakfast and Hallmark-style greeting, she'll eat in a dining hall filled with soldiers and visit an Internet cafe to open an e-card.
News >  Business

Here’s the Dirt : Spokane’s oldest KFC will be rebuilt

The oldest-standing KFC restaurant in Spokane is being rebuilt as part of a franchise-wide plan to update all the stores by 2008. Brett Sibert, whose family-owned company Northwest Restaurants Inc. of Woodinville, Wash., purchased the seven Spokane County KFCs in November, said the restaurant at 1812 W. Northwest Blvd. will follow a new company prototype.
News >  Business

Potlatch gets an earful

About 70 Steelworkers demonstrated outside of Potlatch Corp.'s annual meeting in Spokane on Monday morning, urging company officials to offer more generous wages and benefits to workers at its Lewiston pulp and paper mill. "As we all know, Potlatch has been a profitable company in recent years," said Robert LaVenture, assistant director of the United Steelworkers District 12, which covers the western states.
News >  Business

Here’s the Dirt : Golden opportunity

Downtown Spokane has a hint of the Mediterranean in a newly opened store that sells a healthy mix of olive oil and artisan foods. Coeur d'Alene Olive Oil Co. opened a store earlier this week in about 1,200-square feet of commercial space across from The Davenport Hotel, at 827 W. First Ave.
News >  Business

Some livelihoods running on empty

A week after Washington state announced the launch of an investigation into gas pricing, Spokane drivers have seen costs at the pump jump by more than 13 cents a gallon. "I'm just grinning and bearing it because what can I do about it?" said Dan Johnson, owner of Daniel R. Johnson CPA, PS in north Spokane.